Accidents at school and compensation

A school accident is an unexpected incident that happens at school or on the way to and from school and causes an injury.  

In the category of school accident, we also compensate for injuries incurred during:

• study visits
• field trips
• school camps
• school clubs
• or on a direct journey to other places or events that are included in the school’s action plan.

Pupils or students must travel to and from school using a route that is generally operated and considered safe.  

Pupils and students in our schools are insured in LähiTapiola in case of an accident.

Report any accidents immediately to the teacher or school nurse. Read more detailed instructions on how to handle accidents below. 

If your child or teenager has a minor accident during the school day, the school nurse will treat them. The teacher can also handle minor accidents if the school nurse is not present.

If needed, after an accident, the school nurse or teacher:

• Sends your child to the joint emergency services: Tyks, T-Hospital, Savitehtaankatu 1.
• In case of a dental emergency, the pupil or student is directed to the dental clinic of the health centre of the wellbeing services county of Southwest Finland. 

Damage to glasses in an accident

If your child’s glasses break in an accident that requires medical treatment, our insurance will cover the repair cost of the glasses. Or, if repairing them is impossible, we will cover the cost of a new, similar pair of glasses.

Notification of damage and claiming compensation

The school nurse or teacher submits a notification of the accident to LähiTapiola.

The primary place of care for school accidents is the joint emergency clinic in TYKS, but if you wish, you can personally take your child to a private medical clinic. The school gives you an insurance certificate which you need to bring with you to the treatment. This certificate gives the treating party the right to invoice LähiTapiola directly.

It is also possible to first pay the costs yourself and later claim compensation from LähiTapiola. 

In the schools of the City of Turku, each pupil is responsible for their own property. Receiving compensation for damages requires a clear basis for liability, and the Tort Liability Act applies to cases in which compensation is required.

If the property of a pupil or student is damaged during class (e.g. acid splashes onto their clothing during chemistry class, or during a P.E. class a ball breaks their glasses), the city usually compensates for the damage. The claim for compensation is processed once the city has received the claim and a report from the school that details what happened (Education Committee, section 10 of 5113/601-93).

If necessary, the schools of the City of Turku provide instructions for how to write a claim for compensation. 

Voluntary group accident insurance of the City of Turku

The City of Turku has taken out voluntary group accident insurance which covers children at day-care centres, pupils, and students. Property damage may be compensated if the conditions of the insurance are met.

This insurance covers property damage in the following cases:

• Clothing broken due to first aid treatment.
• Repair costs of glasses, hearing aids, dentures or helmets or, if necessary, the purchase of a new item to replace a broken one if the item has broken in connection with an accident at school that led to medical treatment.